Background, Foreground, Perspective, & More!

It was almost impossible to wake up this morning. The sun was nearly rising when I finally went to sleep early this morning (which wasn't until to 5:45am), after watching 8 exciting hours of Presidential Election results---we are 5 hours ahead of EST.

Today is Wednesday, which means that Miriam and I usually leave campus around 8:30am to travel to Nima, a slum in Accra, to teach our photography class. My alarm clock jolted me from a deep sleep at 8:00am, and I wanted more than anything to go back to sleep. But, once I got to the Kofi Anani school and saw all of my sweet "explorers", I remembered that they were more important than any bit of extra sleep and that they are so worth it.

Before arriving at the school, Miriam and I picked up 4 rolls of developed film from the Accra mall, where we unplaningly treated ourselves to a special "first post-election" breakfast. She ordered an almond croissant and a piece of molten chocolate cake, while I enjoyed a piece of lemony key-lime cheesecake and a blended iced mocha coffe (trust me, I didn't even know these delicacies EXISTED in Ghana, until Miriam shared this "secret spot"---it might have been seriously dangerous, had I discovered it earlier!).

When we arrived, Miriam and I were greeted as friendly as ever. I love the feeling I get everytime I see my students' faces, as they always light up so radiantly! Miriam and I went through the 4 rolls of developed film, asking for the students' perspectives and opinions of the photos, as we also highlighted strengths and areas of improvement.

We tried to intertwine basic vocabulary terms and characteristics that we taught in previous lessons (including: ambient vs. available light, shutter, horizon, horizontal line, vertical line, cropping, eye-contact vs. no eye-contact, subject matter, subject placement, framing, perspective, clutter vs. no clutter, angles, close-ups, portraits, etc.) and we also introduced new concepts (including: symmetry, background, foreground, mid-ground, photo-stories, exposure, double-exposure, flash dispersion, etc.).

I am so amazed by how quickly the children are able to catch on. They absorb the terminology and concepts like little sponges, always so eager to soak in new material and ideas.